Chapter 1
"Dude, you're kidding right?" Sam asked, his eyes darting from the rundown factory in front of him to the man sitting behind the wheel of the car beside him. "That place is huge; we're never going to find it."
Dean put the shifter in park and pulled the keys from the ignition. "It's a friggen Djinn, Sam. It can't vanish into thin air and it can't go through walls. We've dealt with these things before, there's only so many places it can hide. Besides, Jody's been trailing it for days and she's almost positive that it's in there."
"Almost positive?" Sam replied under his breath as he pulled his flashlight from the glove box. "Well that's reassuring. It's not like we have bigger things to deal with right now..."
"Dude, what the Hell's your problem?" Dean snapped as he looked over to catch his brother's eyes. "You've been bitching about everything lately, you want to do this or not?" There was a moment of silence and as Sam's eyes narrowed, Dean quickly realized that he'd just backed himself into a corner. "You know what? Forget I even asked." He growled as he stepped out of the car and slammed his door shut. He pulled his jacket shut against the bitter wind as he made his way to the trunk to get what they would need for the hunt. As Sam stepped out of the car to join him, he couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. The discussion they were about to have was the same they'd been having for the past couple of weeks now. It just didn't seem to end.
"You want to know what my problem is?" Sam started as he made his way around to the back of the Impala. His brother may have been doing what he could to avoid the confrontation, but he was the one who asked for it this time. It had been one hunt after the other lately and Sam couldn't help but feel as if his brother's attempt to deal with his current situation was costing them time he wasn't sure Dean had. "We are wasting our time with hunts like this." Sam hissed, his voice drifting eerily into the cold dark night.
"Forget I asked." Dean repeated without looking up as he grabbed the jar of Lamb's blood from the array of weapons in the Impala's trunk.
"We should be trying to find a way to get the damn mark of Cain off your arm, before whatever damage it does to you is irreversible. We're not getting anywhere by chasing some..."
"Sammy I'm not going to have this conversation with you again." Dean cut in, his tone of voice instantly silencing the other man. He paused from his task and straightened out as he turned to catch his brother's eyes. "Until we find a way to get this thing off my arm, I'm going to hunt and kill whatever evil I find along the way. In this case, a Djinn Jody's been keeping tabs on." He paused for only moment before turning his attention back to the jar of Lamb's blood.
"Are you hunting because you want to, or because you have to?" Sam asked, pausing for only a moment as Dean straightened out again and turned to face him. "That thing's got a hold on you, more than I think you realize." He continued, watching as the other man's eyes narrowed. "It's a bloodlust I haven't seen in you before and it's really starting to worry me, me and Cas." Sam admitted. "That thing made a demon out of you the last time you..."
"I don't want to fight about this with you every time we go out on a hunt." Dean growled, turning his attention back to what he'd been doing. "Hunting is what I do and what I'm good at." He continued, ignoring the look of concern on his brother's face as he dipped a silver blade in the Lamb's blood. "We'll find a way to deal with the damn mark but I'm so sick of the research and dead ends right now, I just want to get back out there and do what I do." He said as he extended the blade towards his brother. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried. The mark of Cain had left him with a darkness unlike anything he'd ever felt before; an evil deep down inside his soul just begging to be fed. He knew his lust for bloodshed would only grow stronger over time, but as long as he could fight off the dark effects of the mark, he would keep doing his job.
Their eyes met for only a moment and though it was obvious Dean was done with the subject, Sam was far from willing to just let it go. If it was up to him, hunting would have taken a back seat to getting rid of the mark, but it wasn't his call. It never was. Knowing that arguing about it wouldn't change a thing, he reluctantly pushed the subject aside for now and took the prepared blade from Dean's hands. "So a Djinn, huh?" He asked, his eyes drifting over to the old factory in front of them. Though the place was obviously abandoned, it hadn't fallen into disrepair like most of the buildings they'd often come across while hunting. The bottom windows were boarded up and some of the top ones had been smashed, but overall the massive factory didn't look like it had been sitting dormant for years. It was secluded but not too far from town, and more than big enough for a Djinn to seek refuge without being spotted. "First time you had a face to face with one of those, the son of a bitch sent you for a ride."
"Yeah well you live and you learn." Dean casually replied, the smile creeping back up from the corner of his lips as he grabbed his flashlight and shut the trunk. "That's why I brought you, besides we've learned a thing or two since then." They were just on the outskirts of Scythe but with the small town's lights barely visible in the distance, they may very well have been out in the middle of nowhere. As the pair made their way towards the old factory in front of them, flashlights in one hand and blades in the other, Dean couldn't help but notice the large chain piled on the ground next to the graffiti covered door. "Looks like someone's been in here." He said as he pushed the steel door open, cringing as the sound of it creaking echoed into the night.
"Probably kids." Sam remarked, using his flashlight to take a better look at some of the graffiti on the wall.
"Probably." Dean replied as he kicked a broken beer bottle aside. "Speaking of kids, Jody said there's been a dozen or so people who've gone missing in and around Scythe. Some were found dead but half are still missing, she's pretty convinced that this thing's been squatting out here for the past few weeks." He took a quick glance over his shoulder at the Impala in the deserted lot behind them before turning his attention back to the open door. "Let's go pay this son of a bitch a visit." He whispered as he took his first step inside.
Debris & garbage littered the floor and rows of old stacked crates and pallets stretched the length of the room in front of them. From the large second story windows that lined the upper walls on both sides, slivers of moonlight pierced the darkness to shed light into the old factory. A steel grate staircases leading up to a platform overhead could be seen off to their left, while various machinery and equipment stood idle to the right. The broken glass of discarded bottles crunching and snapping under their feet as they walked was the only sound that could be heard as it bounced off the walls around them. Canvassing the factory floor row by row, the pair started to make their way down the length of the building, their eyes scanning the darkness of every corner for any movement at all. Djinn were fast, and if they were to get the best of this one, they'd have to practically catch it by surprise.
When a noise behind them made Dean turn on the spot, Sam paused in his steps, his eyes glued to the man in front of him as he watched Dean's gaze drift up to the platform. Dean never had to say much to get his message across, a look or a few gestures was often enough. So when he pointed the blade in his hand towards the steel grate staircase, Sam knew what the next move would be. Like a team of well trained soldiers, they made their way back towards the stairs and crept up to the platform overhead.
As they reached the top, both took a moment to study their new surroundings. What had once been office space for Foremen and Supervisors was now a wasteland of broken glass, overturned desks and dust covered filing cabinets. Dean pointed his younger brother to the right as he headed towards the left. Stepping over the discarded office furniture strewn around him, he quickly made his way to the first of three small rooms in front of them. Kneeling down in the open door for a moment, he used his flashlight to look for any sign of footprints in the thick lair of dust, before focusing his attention on the small room. Though he could tell someone had been there, the tracks weren't recent enough to warrant further searching of the room. He let out a sigh as he got to his feet, pausing for a moment as the sound of shuffling in the second room nearby caught in his attention. His eyes instantly darted towards the room at the very end of the platform just in time to catch a glimpse of Sam's flashlight bounce off one of the broken windows in the open door.
His heart started to race as his grip on the blade tightened, the shuffling noise he'd just heard hadn't been his brother. He wasted no time making his way over to the nearby room, careful not to make a sound as he approached the open door. If the Djinn was in fact in that small office room then it was trapped and this was his chance. He took a deep breath as he stepped into the doorway, quickly scanning the office with his flashlight for any sign of the creature he was hunting. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was in there. "Where are you, you son of a bitch." He whispered under his breath as he took a step inside, his eyes glued to an overturned desk in the corner of the room, the only thing big enough for a Djin to be hiding behind. He was so focused on where he thought the thing was, he didn't realize he'd been lured into a trap until the door behind him slammed shut. He swore under his breath as he turned on the spot, catching only a glimpse of the Djin's glowing eyes before taking a solid kick to the stomach. The flashlight dropped from his hands as he stumbled back and tripped over a chair, sending him to the dust covered floor with a thud.
The sound of the door slamming shut and the clatter that followed sent Sam's heart to his throat. "Dean?!" He called out, stepping out of the small room he'd been exploring and hurrying to make his way back towards where they'd split up only moments ago. The sound of a scuffle echoed eerily in the darkened factory, every thump and crash sending chills down his spine as he traced the noise to its source. He came to a stop at the closed door, his eyes instantly drawn to the only source of light in the dark room, his older brother's flashlight rolling back and forth on the dust covered floor. "DEAN!" He called out again, swearing under his breath as he realized the door was locked.
Inside the small room, Dean was back on his feet in an instant, clutching the blood drenched knife in his tight grip and taking a swing at the Djin that'd attacked him. He got one good slash in before taking a punch to the face and another to the gut, the blow forcing him back against a filing cabinet.
Sam threw his shoulder against the door as he watched his brother take yet another swing at the creature. Thought it looked like Dean had managed to land another blow, it didn't seem like enough to even slow the Djin down.
It was one punch after another and when the blade fell from his grip, Dean knew he was in trouble. As his hands scoured the debris on the floor in a desperate attempt to find his silver blade, a kick to the ribs rolled him onto his back and left him struggling to breath. He was already gasping for breath when he felt a cold hand wrap around his throat and another press down on his chest. The Djin pulled away from him when the deafening sound of gunfire and shattering glass tore through the building. The moment it released its grip, Dean forced himself onto his stomach, his lungs now burning every time he inhaled the stale dusty air. His body was already aching from the fight, every move he made was painful but as he watched the Djin make its way towards Sam, he knew this wasn't over. His hands searched the darkness for his fallen blade as Sam fired another round of shots through the broken window, a well needed distraction to keep the creature's focus as Dean gathered himself for another round. By the time he felt the blade's cold handle within his grasp, the Djin was out the door and on the platform now fighting with Sam. He swore under his breath as he picked himself up off the floor and stumbled over discarded office furniture to make his way towards the pair. Sam was now pinned against the wall, the moonlight coming in through one of the large windows nearby giving Dean only a faint glimpse of what was going on. His grip tightened as he closed in on his target and raised his arm up with every intention of plunging that sharp blade into the Djin's back, but he was caught off guard when a hand suddenly clamped down around his wrist from behind.
Another Djin that seemed to have come out of nowhere reached into the back of his waistband and pulled out his gun as it spun him around. It then kicked him away and took aim before Dean even had time to react, let alone catch his balance. Everything else happened so fast he barely had time to take it all in. Shots rang out, the blade dropped from his hand and the metal railing bordering the platform caught him behind the knees. Momentum sent him over the edge and before the echo of the gunshots could fade, the sound of shattering glass filled the air. Though the free fall to the darkened factory floor below lasted no more than a second, every worse-case scenario imaginable flashed in the back of his mind before everything went black.